The present invention deals with a system and method for facilitating inquires and transactions between businesses or inside a company. In the latter case an employee uses the system for facilitating inquires and transactions. More specifically, the present invention deals with using a messaging service to implement question answering and functional processing between businesses.
The present invention proceeds, for the sake of example, by referring to a manufacturer. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not so limited and could apply to many other contexts as well, such as within a company, at a distributor, or any other place in a commercial sales channel or supply chain. It could also be used in other business applications, such as finance, customer relation management, etc.
In many business environments, the goal of a manufacturer is to sell to, and to deliver products or services to, retailers (or other customer). In doing so, however, the manufacturer often outsources services to, and orders parts from, external suppliers. The manufacturer may also rely on distributors to distribute its products to retailers.
In one such example, a bicycle manufacturer assembles bicycles for distribution to retailers. In doing so, the bicycle manufacturer orders parts from a number of different suppliers who supply different components of the bicycle, such as frames, wheels, tires, seats, deraileurs, brakes, etc. Each of those suppliers typically ships the parts to the manufacturer through a separate shipping company. The shipping companies used by the different suppliers may, or may not, be the same. Once the manufacturer has obtained all of the parts, and assembles the bicycles, it also typically ships the finished products (the bicycles) to its distributors through a separate shipping company. The distributors, in turn, typically ship the bicycles to the retailers (the eventual customer of the manufacturer) by a separate shipping company. Thus, the goods in this manufacturing chain flow from suppliers, through the manufacturer and distributor, to the retailers. There are at least three shipping links in the manufacturer chain, and thus there may be a wide variety of different shipping companies used. At each step along the chain, delays can occur.
Because all of these companies are conventionally separate companies, it can be very cumbersome and time consuming to track the status of all of the different goods and services provided along the manufacturing chain, and to also track the status of all the varying shipments which are made through separate shipping companies. For instance, if a manufacturer wishes to know the status of an order of bicycle wheels which it has placed with a wheel supplier, the manufacturer must contact the supplier, and either speak with the supplier or leave a message, or send an electronic transmission to the supplier requesting the status of the order. A person at the supplier must then locate the status of the order and return the call or return the electronic transmission. Alternately, some suppliers may provide computer network access to order status information. However, in that instance, the manufacturer must open a network connection to a supplier's network, then choose an appropriate option for viewing order status information, then input an indication of the order (such as the order number) and then allow the supplier's system to transmit the status information corresponding to the order to the manufacturer's computer for display.
Often, the status associated with such an order is simply the ship date which indicates when the order was shipped or when it is planned to be shipped. Therefore, the manufacturer must go through the same process, all over again, with respect to the shipping company that the supplier used to ship the product to the manufacturer. Considering that a manufacturer must repeat this cumbersome process multiple times for a single item that is being supplied by a supplier, and considering the fact that the manufacturer may need to repeat the entire process for a plurality of different items shipped by different suppliers, simply tracking down inventory or other items along the manufacturing chain can be very time consuming and inefficient for a manufacturer.
Similarly, it should be noted that each of the companies in the manufacturing chain may need to track inventory or check on orders. Therefore, the problem exists not only with respect to the manufacturer, but with respect to every member of the manufacturer and distribution chain.
The same problem arises when the manufacturer desires that a functional step be performed on an item of data at a supplier. Assume, for instance, that the manufacturer has requested a price quote from a supplier of bicycle tires. Now assume that the manufacturer wishes to convert the terms of that quote into an actual order for bicycle tires at the supplier. Conventionally, the manufacturer must take very similar steps to checking status of an order. In order words, the manufacturer must somehow contact the supplier, provide the supplier with the quote identifier (such as a quote number) and indicate that the manufacturer wishes to convert that quote into an actual order. The supplier must then update the quote in its resource planning system to indicate that it has now become an actual order, and then provide some type of confirmation to the manufacturer. Of course, this is a cumbersome and time consuming process as well, specifically in light of the fact that it may need to be repeated many times by each individual company or entity in the supply chain.